just because the fog is there
He doesn’t flinch at much. Not the crack of bone, not pain, not even her when she’s cornering him with a grin like a loaded trap. But the flash of her thoughts in that moment—sharp, cold, and so suddenly cruel in a way she likely doesn’t mean—has his shoulders drawing taut. The shift is slight, the kind of tension he’s long since learned to smooth out, but not quick enough this time. His jaw ticks once. Just once. And then it’s locked away again. He doesn’t look at her—doesn’t want to—not with that chill lapping at the back of his mind like a tide gone mean.
If she wanted someone older, someone who’d racked up a proper number of funerals to earn their place in her bed—fine. The world wasn’t lacking for loss or the men who wore it like a fucking badge. But if she thought age made someone more human, more real, more worthy of understanding her pain—well. There’s a reason he doesn’t say a godsdamned word as he turns and walks out. Because what he wants to say wouldn’t come out gentle.
By the time he’s back, any trace of the moment’s bite is buried deep. Shoved down into the place where all the other barbs go to rot. He meets her smile with a quieter one of his own, lopsided and faint as moonlight through cloud, and raises a brow at the scold tucked in her voice. "What’re you doin’ with one of Frey’s dogs?" he drawls, the dryness returning as he eyes the canine offender still sniffing suspiciously at the grill’s legs.
He doesn’t wait for an answer. Shadows flick from his shoulders, sinuous and sure, gathering up the plates from the counter. He can still feel her, though—the hum of her hands as she worked, the glint of butter-slicked confidence still simmering through her thoughts. At her question, the way she leans in on it like it means something more, he gives a low huff of laughter. "You can open the wine, then."
And with that, he steps back out, letting the door swing behind him on a gentle hush of air, the plates held aloft by silent dark wings as he heads toward the waiting heat of the grill.
If she wanted someone older, someone who’d racked up a proper number of funerals to earn their place in her bed—fine. The world wasn’t lacking for loss or the men who wore it like a fucking badge. But if she thought age made someone more human, more real, more worthy of understanding her pain—well. There’s a reason he doesn’t say a godsdamned word as he turns and walks out. Because what he wants to say wouldn’t come out gentle.
By the time he’s back, any trace of the moment’s bite is buried deep. Shoved down into the place where all the other barbs go to rot. He meets her smile with a quieter one of his own, lopsided and faint as moonlight through cloud, and raises a brow at the scold tucked in her voice. "What’re you doin’ with one of Frey’s dogs?" he drawls, the dryness returning as he eyes the canine offender still sniffing suspiciously at the grill’s legs.
He doesn’t wait for an answer. Shadows flick from his shoulders, sinuous and sure, gathering up the plates from the counter. He can still feel her, though—the hum of her hands as she worked, the glint of butter-slicked confidence still simmering through her thoughts. At her question, the way she leans in on it like it means something more, he gives a low huff of laughter. "You can open the wine, then."
And with that, he steps back out, letting the door swing behind him on a gentle hush of air, the plates held aloft by silent dark wings as he heads toward the waiting heat of the grill.
don't mean nothing's behind it
☆ has a pale star tattoo beneath his left eye, and freckle-sized constellations move across his skin
☽ hair changes from bleached blonde to brown
☆ telepathic: Sunlit Shadows | The user can read the surface thoughts and emotions of those within a 60ft radius. Control is excellent. Note: "Thoughts and emotions" include anything written in a character's narration in a post.
☽ hair changes from bleached blonde to brown
☆ telepathic: Sunlit Shadows | The user can read the surface thoughts and emotions of those within a 60ft radius. Control is excellent. Note: "Thoughts and emotions" include anything written in a character's narration in a post.
